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'Delivered at Chieago, Oct. ji, iSjg,- 



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LAST AND GREATEST 

SPEECH 

or 

ZACH. "CHANDLER 

Late U.-S. Senator from Michigan, 
DELIVERED AT 

McCoRMiCK Hall, Chicago, Oct. 31, 1879, 

The Evening Pkkviols to his Death, 
UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE 

YOUNG MEN'S AUXILIARY CLUB, 

OF CHICAGO. 



KEPORTEU VERBATIM BV 

WILLIAM H. STRONG, 

SHORT-HAND REPORTER FOR THE CHICAGO " INTER OCEAN. 
COMPILED BY 

CHARLES ARND, 

SECRETARY OF THE YOUNG MEN's AUXILIARY CLUB. 



;Zj^^^ 



CHICAGO: 

FERGUS PRINTING COMPANY, 

244-8 ILLINOIS STREET. 

1879- 



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GS 



G44 



Enlered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by 

Fergus Printing Company, 
In the office of the I^ibrarian of Congress, at Washington. 



RESOLUTIONS OF RESPECT AND SYMPATHY, 

Passed by the Young Men's Auxiliary Club of Chicago, on the 
evening after the death of Senator Chandler : 

Whereas, Providence has suddenly removed from this life the 
Hon. Zachariah Chandler; therefore, 

Resolved, By the Young Men's Auxiliary Club of Chicago, that 
we convey to the bereaved family our sincere and heartfelt sym- 
pathy, in this hour of their deep affliction. 

Resolved, That we mourn the loss of another of those remarka- 
ble men who were earnest and successful in ridding our Country 
of the blighting curse of slavery. And, trusting that his influence 
may remain with us, w^e pledge the oppressed in our land, who 
have lost so great a friend, counselor, and leader, that we will do 
our utmost to carry forward the principles which he so fearlessly 
advocated. 

Resolved, That we shall ever recognize the great privilege we 
enjoyed in listening to the last eloquent appeal of this distin- 
guished champion of equal rights and National sovereignty. 

Resolved, That our Secretary is hereby instructed to have this 
address published for general distribution. 

Resolved, That we, as a Club, escort the remains of Senator 
Chandler to the train which is to bear them to his late home; 
and that we do hereby appoint Messrs. Collyer, Cragin, Larned, 
and Rogers to accompany the same to Detroit. 



6 INTRODUCTORY. 

This pamphlet is published in consequence of the foregoing 
resolutions, and is most respectfully dedicated to the friends and 
relatives of the late Senator Chandler, as a further token of 
our high esteem of his character and distinguished services to his 
Country. 

The address, as herein presented, is taken from the short-hand 
notes of Wm. H. Strong, short-hand reporter for the Chicago 
J7ite7- Ocean; and it is an accurate, verbatim report of the speech, 
in every particular — the very best which could be obtained. The 
Ifiter Ocean had intended to publish it in full, but, through lack 
of space, could only allow an abstract of it to appear in their 
paper. 

Charles Arnd. 

Secretary, Young Men^s Auxiliarv Chib. 
Chicago, December ist. iSyi^. 



SENATOR CHANDLER'S 
LAST AND GREATEST SPEECH 



INTRODUCTORY. 



Gloomy was the political outlook in the City of Chicago. Cha- 
grined at the mistakes of the last Spring's convention, mortified 
with defeat only too recent, with the municipal government under 
Democratic control, and the election at hand, seemingly of no 
National importance, the Republicans were anything but confi- 
dent. Deep-seated apathy had fallen upon their ranks, and indif- 
ference seemed to characterize their every action. With defeat 
thus staring them in the face, the problem presented was one difii- 
cult of solution. 

But one thing was to be done. A great political speech must 
be made, and the speaker be— Senator Zach. Chandler. He 
certainly could arouse the slumbering element to a realization of 
its peril. He, grown gray in the service of his Country, would 
present the National issues in words which would command the 
attention of the whole Nation. 

Fortune favored us. Through the eftbrts of our President, 
Samuel Collyer, and the active exertions of Mr. Jesse Spalding, 
of this City, a very intimate friend of the Senator's, he was per- 
suaded to deliver an address under the auspices of our Club. 

It was the evening of October 31, 1879. Little had been 
done to advertise; but, long before the hour of eight, McCormick's 
Hall had been jammed full, till there did not seem to be listening 
place for another living soul. Over 3000 people were present, in 
pleasant expectation, and they were not disappointed. As Sena- 



8 IN TRODK r(JR\'. 

tor Chandi.ek appeared, accompanied by an escort of 200 of 
the Union Veteran Club and the strains of martial music, he was 
greeted with prolonged cheering. 

On motion of Mr. Jesse Spalding, Samuel Collyer, our Presi- 
dent, was publicly elected Chairman of the meeting, and he then 
introduced the Senator with a short, appropriate speech. 

It was an occasion never to be forgotten. Notwithstanding the 
fatigue of long weeks of campaigning, the form of the old Sena- 
tor rose to its full height ; and there was an expression of deter- 
mination about his mouth, and a glitter in his eye, which were 
not to be mistaken. He was terribly in earnest. 

Whether it was due to inspiration, received from so vast an 
audience, or to consciousness of the near approach of death, or 
to intensified indignation at Confederate ingratitude, certain it is 
that it was the greatest effort of his life. It was as grand a speech 
as was ever delivered in the City of Chicago. For two whole 
hours he poured shot and shell into the Rebel ranks, as in the 
days of old, and presented the living issues of the day in lan- 
guage so plain, so convincing, that even the most obdurate was 
persuaded. 

Never was orator so impressively eloquent. Round after round 
of applause attested to the enthusiasm of those present. Cheer 
after cheer greeted his salient points, as it were, in continued ova- 
tion. At one time the excitement became so great, that, notwith- 
standing several minutes of continuous applauding, the immense 
audience rose to its feet, and shouted, and cheered, till the very 
])uilding trembled. 

Knormous was the sacrifice, but wonderful the result. That 
magnificent speech, uttered in the heart of our Nation, sped with 
the wings of lightning throughout our land, and aroused thousands 
of voters from the state of lethargy into which they had fallen. 
Here the effect was like magic. The political sentiment was com- 
pletely revolutionized: and our County was changed from 5000 
Democratic last Spring, to 10,000 Rei)ublican majority. 



LAST AND GREATEST SPEECH. 9 

Few men are capable of such an efifort; and, mournfully be it 
said, it cost Senator Chandler his life. The next morning he 
was found dead in his bed, at the Grand Pacific Hotel. 



Mr. Samuel Collyer, Chairman of the mass-meeting, intro- 
duced Senator Chandler, as follows: 

Ladies and Gentlemen: I have the honor to introduce a 
gentleman who speaks to a Chicago audience for the first time. 
He was a merchant in business in the Cit)^ of Detroit before I 
was born. To-day he represents our sister State of Michigan in 
the Senate of the United States. He is known as the most stal- 
wart of the Stalwarts [great applause] ; and I trust that you will 
give him that respectful attention which his distinguished services 
to his Country deserve. [Applause.] 

THE SPEECH. 

Mr. Chairman and P'ellow- Citizens: It has become the 
custom of late to restrict the lines of citizenship. In the Senate 
of the United States, and in the halls of Congress, you will hear 
citizenship described as confined to States; and it is denied that 
there is such a thing as National citizenship. I to-night address 
you, my fellow-citizens of Chicago, in a broad sense, as fellow- 
citizens of the United States of America, regardless of State 
lines. [Applause.] A great crime has been committed, my fel- 
low-citizens, — a crime against this Nation, a crime against Repub- 
lican institutions throughout the world, a crime against civil lib- 
erty, — and the criminal is yet unpunished. That is to say, he is 
not punished according to his deserts [applause] ; and I shall to- 
night devote myself chiefly to the history of that crime, and shall 
endeavor to hold up the criminal to your execration. [Applause.] 

But first, it is proper for me to allude to certain matters of Na- 
tional importance, which are at this present moment living issues. 
Twelve years ago, an idea w^as started in the neighboring State of 
Ohio, called the "Ohio Idee," which spread, and bore fruit, in 
different States. That idea was to pay something with nothing. 
[Voice — that's the idea now ! Another voice — shut up ! Laugh- 
ter.] From this "Ohio idee" sprung a brood of other ideas; for 
example, the greenback idea, an unlimited issue of irredeemable 
currency; and a party was inaugurated in different States, called 
the Greenback Party. It took root in Michigan last year, had a 



10 SENATOR ZACH. CHANDLERS 

vigorous growth, put forth Hmbs, blossomed hberally, bore no 
fruit, and died. [Laughter and cheers.] Therefore, I shall pay no 
attention to the Greenback Party. [Applause.] It is not a living 
issue. [Laughter.] But the "Ohio idee" is still a living issue; and, 
even during the last session of Congress, an attempt was made, 
and persistently made, to repeal the Resumption Act, that had 
been in existence for years. The resumption of specie payments 
was virtually accomplished when, in 1874-5, that Resumption 
Act became a law. For, at that time, we made that act so strong, 
that there was no power on earth that could defeat the resump- 
tion of specie payments after it had once been inaugurated. [Ap- 
plause.] We authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to use 
any bond, ever issued by the Government, and. in any amount 
that was necessary, to carry forward to success specie payments, 
so soon as the time arrived for the resumption. We carefully 
guarded that law. True, we are under an obligation to the man 
who has executed the law; but, the resumption of specie pay- 
ments was as much a fixed fact, when that law was signed, as it 
is to-day [applause]; and all the powers of earth combined could 
not break that resumption when it had once been inaugurated. 
No combination of capital, and no combination of nations, could 
break it ; for they butted against the credit of the United States 
of America. [Loud applause.] 

But this "Ohio idee,"' as I said, w^as to pay off your bonds with 
greenbacks. Well, my fellow-citizens, we have paid off $160,- 
000,000 of your bonds in greenbacks within the last sixty or 
ninety days, and what more do you w^ant? Ah! But the Ohio 
idea was something different from that. It was, as I said before, 
to pay something with nothing; and, up to the final adjournment 
of the last regular session of Congress, the attempt was still made 
to issue irredeemable paper, and force it on the creditors of the 
Nation. Now, if this paper which they proposed to issue, in 
paying off the bonds of your Government, were properly and 
truthfully described, it w^ould read thus: "The Government of 
the United States for value received" — for it was for value 
received ; no greenback \vas ever issued except for value re- 
ceived; no bond of the Government was ever issued except for 
value received — "for value received, the Government of the 
United States promises to pay nothing to nobody, never."' [Ap- 
plause and laughter.] That was the paper with which it was pro- 
posed by these men, entertaining, and now entertaining, the Ohio 
idea, to redeem the bonds of your Government. 

Now, you have heard, I presume, here in Chicago, the denun- 



LAST AND GREATEST SPEECH. II 

ciation of the holders of your Government bonds. "The Bloated 
Bondholder" was a term of reproach. On the floor of Con- 
gress, and in the streets of Chicago, and all over these United 
States, "The Bloated Bondholder" was a term of reproach. Did 
it ever occur to you to enquire who are the bloated bondholders? 
Why, my friends, every single man who has one dollar in a sav- 
ings-bank is a bloated bondholder ; for there is not a savings-bank 
in the land, which ought to be intrusted with a dollar, whose 
funds are not invested in the bonds of your Government. [Ap- 
plause.] There is not a widow, or orphan, who has a trust fund, 
to support the widow in her widowhood, and the orphan in its 
orphanage, in a trust company, who is not a bloated bondholder; 
for there is not a trust company in the land, that is to be trusted, 
that has not a large proportion of its funds in the bonds of your 
Government. Every man who has his life insured, or his house 
insured, or his barn, or his lumber, or any insurance, is a bloated 
bondholder; for there is not an insurance company, Hfe, fire, 
marine, or any other class of insurance, that ought to be trusted, 
that has not its funds invested in the bonds of your Government. 
You may go to the books of the Treasury to-morrow, and inquire, 
and you will find ninety-nine men who hold $ioo, or less, of the 
bonds of your Government, directly, or indirectly, where you find 
one man who holds $10,000, or more. And these men, enter- 
taining the Ohio idea, would ruin the ninety-nine poor men for 
the possible chance of injuring the one -hundredth rich man. 
And yet, you may destroy the bonds of the rich man, and you 
do him no harm, for he has but a small amount of his vast wealth 
in the bonds of your Government, while the poor man, owning 
$100, or under, as his Httle all, is utterly ruined. [Applause.] 
You would not find a man, woman, or child, in America who 
would touch that kind of paper if proffered him. 

You say you would stop the interest on your bonded debt. 
Very well. The holder of your bond would say, "You do not 
propose to pay any interest. 1 hold a bond for value received, 
with a given amount of interest, payable on a given day. Now, 
I will hold your bond until you men, entertaining the Ohio idea, 
are buried in your political graves; and then I will appeal to an 
honest People, and an honest Government, to pay an honest 
debt." [Applause.] 

"But," say these men, "pay off your foreign bonds." I see 
before me men who remember the days of General Jackson; and 
they likewise remember, that, in the time of General Jackson, 
the Government of France owed to the citizens of the United 



12 SENATOR ZACH. CHANDLERS 

States $5,000,000, which France did not refuse to pay, but neg- 
lected to pay. It ran along from decade to decade unpaid. 
Cieneral Jackson sent for the French Minister, and said: "Unless 
that $5,000,000, due to the citizens of the United States, is paid, 
I will declare war against France." [Applause.] General Jack- 
son was remonstrated with. It would disturb the commercial 
relations, not only of this Country, but the World. Said he, 
"Unless France pays that $5,000,000, by the Eternal, I will 
declare war against France." [Applause.] Every man, woman, 
and child, and the King of France, knew that he would do it; 
and the $5,000,000 was paid to the United States. It is not 
$5,000,000 that your Government owes to the citizens of the 
World, but it is more than fifty times five million; and it is scat- 
tered all over Ciod's earth. 

You say, you would stop the interest on these bonds. How 
long do you think it would be before a British fleet would be sail- 
ing up our coast, followed by a French fleet, and a Russian fleet, 
and an Austrian fleet, and a Spanish fleet, and an Italian fleet, all 
demanding payment of the bonds held by their respective Na- 
tions? The British Admiral would step ashore, and say: "I 
have a little account against you of $5,000,000, and I am author- 
ized to collect it." Up steps Tom Ewing, and says: "Your ac- 
count is correct, sir. [Laughter and applause.] The Government 
of the United States owes that amount to your citizens, and here 
is your money." [Great laughter, the Senator brandishing a hand- 
ful of blank paper, as representing the "Ohio idee."] The admi- 
ral from Britain, and the other foreign gentlemen, say: "What, 
pray, is that?" "Why, money!" says Tom. "Don't you- see? 
Why, it IS a first mortgage on all the property of all the citizens of 
all the United States. [Laughter and applause.] Don't you see 
the stamp of the Government?'' The foreign gentlemen say: 
"Where is it payable?" "Nowhere," says Tom. [Laughter and 
applause.] "To whom is it payable?" "Nobody." [Laughter. 
"When is it payable?" "Never." [Laughter and great applause. 
The foreign gentlemen say: "We don't know any such money; 
our orders are to collect these hundreds of millions of dollars in 
the coin of the World; and, unless they are paid in the coin of 
the World, our orders are to blockade every port of the United 
States — and here are all the navies of the earth to "lo it, — and to 
burn down every city that our guns will reach." Ah! Tom 
Ewing, you will find that honesty is the best policy with nations, 
as with individuals. [Applause.] 

"Perhaps you are right about this bond business,'' it is urged, 



LAST AND GREATEST SPEECH. 1 3 

"it is an open question; but the National Banks I Down with 
the National Panks ! Abolish the National Banks I" What do 
you want to abolish the National Banks for? That is another 
living issue to-day, and advocated by the Democratic Party — a 
proposition which 1 wish to hold up to your execration. "Down 
with the National Banks!" What do you want to "down with 
the National Banks" for? I was in the Senate of the United 
States when that national banking law^ was passed: 1 was a mem- 
ber of that body, and voted upon every proposition made in it 
upon that bill. I had a little experience in State Banks myself 
[Laughter.] Michigan had, at one time, a very large State Bank 
circulation [applause and laughter]; and we called that money, 
in these days, "wild-cat" money [laughter]; and it was very wild. 
[Great laughter,] Chicago had a little experience in those days, 
too. It was necessary for any man liable to receive a five dollar 
note to take a counterfeit detector with him always, and for three 
purposes: To ascertain, first, if there ever was such and such a 
bank in existence; second, to ascertain whether its bill was a coun- 
terfeit; and third, to ascertain whether the bank had failed yet 
[laughter]; and, as a rule, it had failed. [Great laughter and 
applause.] 

Now, we had two objects in vievviin getting up that national 
banking law. First, we wanted to furnish an absolutely safe cir- 
culating medium, so that no loss could ensue to the bondholder. 
Second, we wanted to furnish a market for our bonds, which had 
become somewhat of a drug. Now, we might just as well have 
put in State bonds, as security for those bank notes, — it would 
have been just as legal, just as right; but we did not know 
which one or how many of those Rebel States would repudiate 
their bonds, and therefore we did not put any in. [Applause and 
laughter.] We might just as well have put in railroad bonus; but 
we did not know how many railroads would default in their inter- 
est. We might just as well have put in real estate; but we had 
no assurance that the neighbors of the banker would appraise the 
real estate at its actual cash-selling value [laughter]; and there- 
fore we put in the bonds of your Government at 90 cents on 
the dollar; and to-day, for every single 90 cents of national 
bank notes afloat, there are 100 cents of the bonds of your Gov- 
ernment, deposited with the Treasurer of the United States for 
the redemption of the 90 cents. [Applause.] You don't know, 
and you don't care, whether the bank is located in Oregon, in 
Texas, in South Carolina, Mississippi, New York, or Illinois; 
because you know that there are 100 cents — worth to-day 102^ 



14 SENATOR ZACH. CHAXDLER S 

— in the bonds of your (Government, deposited with the Treas- 
urer of the United States for the benefit of every 90 cents of 
national bank notes you hold. You don't know, and you don't 
care, whether the bank, whose note you have in your pocket, 
failed yesterday, last week, or last year, or never failed; and you 
never find it out, if it did fail; for the bank bonds are sold, and your 
bank notes are redeemed the day after, or the week after, or the 
year after your bank has failed, precisely the same as though it 
had never failed [applause]; so, in any event, you are perfectly 
secure. [Applause.] 

Yet some say, "Call in your bonds I abolish the National Banks 1" 
Very well; suppose it done; suppose you pass a law to-morrow- 
repealing the charters of all your National Banks, and calling in 
every note of every National Bank. Suppose that every National 
Bank in America, obeying such new legislation, takes 90 cents — 
the exact amount of the circulation which it has, either in silver, 
or gold, or greenbacks — to the Treasury, leaves it there to redeem 
its money, takes the bonds and distributes them among the stock- 
holders of that bank. What is the result? What would it be? 
Why, the day after you should thus call in every national bank 
note that you had out, you would pay the self-same amount of 
interest on your bonds that you paid the day before, not one far- 
thing more or less. You don't gain one cent; but you lose $r6,- 
500,000 of taxes, paid this year, and last year, and every year, 
upon the stock of National Banks, to National, State, and muni- 
cipal government. You gain nothing, I say, and you lose that 
amount. You distress the whole community of these United 
States, by compelling the banks to call in $850,000,000, now 
loaned for carrying on the commerce and the industries of the 
Nation. Now, my friends, you had better devote yourselves to 
something that you understand, and let National Banks alone, in 
my judgment. [Loud applause.] 

But they say — the Democrats— ^that there is one thing that 
they know they are right upon, and that is the free coinage of sil- 
ver: Every man who owns 85 cents worth of silver shall go to 
the Treasury of the United States, or the mints of the United 
S rates, and take a certificate of deposit for 100 cents, which shall 
pass as money. This is the Warner Bill, and the Democratic 
Party is committed to it. The very last day of the last session, 
by a majority vote of one, in the Senate of the United States, 
we laid that bill substantially on the table ; every Rei)ublican vot- 
ing aye, and every Democrat, excepting four or five, voting no. 
[Apjjlause.] Now, to-day. the laboring-man can take gold, or 



LAST AND GREATEST SPEECH. 1 5 

silver, or paper, as he chooses, for his day's labor. — I am in favor 
of the dual standard; I am in favor of a silver dollar with one 
hundred cents in it; I am in favor of an honest do.lar wherever 
you can find it [applause]; and I stand by an honest dollar. — To- 
day, the laboring-man can take gold, or silver, or paper, and they 
are all equal to each other, being interchangeable into each other. 
A paper dollar costs nothing; a silver dollar costs the Govern- 
ment 85 cents — a fraction more than that now, just as it has cost 
a fraction less — but all three are of equal value. But, the very 
moment you commence issuing such certificates of deposit freely 
to every one having bullion, you banish gold from your circulat- 
ing medium, and make it an article of traffic, and nothing else; 
and you have but a single standard, and that a depreciated stand- 
ard. There is paid out in the United States $4,000,000 every 
day for labor alone. Now, by compelling the substitution of the 
silver dollar alone, you swindle the laboring-man out of $600,000 
a-day. The laboring-man who receives a dollar a day gets but 
85 cents. The man who receives ten dollars a week gets $8.50, 
and no more. The farmer w4io sells a horse, or the man who 
sells a load of lumber, or a load of wheat, or anything else, 
amounting to $100, receives but $85, and no more, instead of 
$100. Y(^u have but one single standard, and that the silver 
standard, which, in the banishment of gold, is worth precisely the 
metal that is in it, and no more. 

Now, who is benefited by this substitution? Not a man on 
God's earth, my friends, except the bullion owner, and the bullion 
speculator. Now, I do not charge these men with corruption; I 
do not charge these men with being bribed to pass that law, 
because I have no proof of it; but I do say, and I say it boldly, 
that the bullion-owners and the bullion-speculators could aff"ord to 
pay $10,000,000 in bullion for the privilege of swindling the labor- 
ing men of the country out of 15 per cent, of all their earnings. 
[Applause.] They say, ''That may all be true; we don't know 
how it is; we have not been bribed" — and I never knew a man 
in my life that would own up that he was bribed. [Laughter.] 
I don't say that they are, but, I do say, that they are engaged in 
a mighty mean business. [Laughter.] 

But, my friends, there is another question which is of vital 
interest to every man, woman, and child in America — every one — 
and that is, this question of the enormous Rebel claims presented 
against your Government. I hold in my hands a list of the 
claims now before the two houses of Congress, and being pressed, 
claims for cotton, claims for the destruction of property, for quar- 



l6 SENATOR ZACH. CHANDLER'S 

termasters' stores, for every conceivable injury that war can inflict- 
Even my old friend Logan [turning to that Senator] has gotten 
up more claims than you can shake a stick at in a week, for the 
fence rails that his boys burnt up. [Applause.] I have claims 
now before me, right here, amounting to more than two thousand 
millions of dollars, against this Government — more than $2,000,- 
ooo,coo, I repeat, and the only thing to-day — the Senate and the 
House both being under the control of those Southern Rebels — 
the only protection, the only barrier between the Treasury of the 
United States and those Rebel claims, is the Presidential veto — 
and thank God for the veto. [Loud applause and cheers.] But 
those claims are not all. There are claims innumerable, which 
they dare not yet present. You may go through the South; 
and, in every State in the South, somewhere hidden away, you 
will find a claim for every slave that was liberated. On the 
files of the Senate and the House you will find demands for 
untold millions of dollars, to improve streams that do not exist 
— where you would have to pump the water to get up a stream 
at all [laughter]; demands for untold millions for the levees 
of the Mississippi — for I tell you that all the governments of 
the earth could not erect and maintain those levees, 1 700 miles 
long, through a hostile population; for, whenever they wanted an 
expenditure of $100,000, or $r, 000,000, all they would have to 
do would be to cut a crevasse, and one man with a hoe could do 
it in a night. We have already given them 32,000,000 acres — all 
the land that could be benefited by these levees we have donated 
to the Southern States — and now they propose to bankrupt the 
Public Treasury, by compeUing it to build the levees, to make the 
lands which we gave them valuable. 

But, perhaps, you may say I am overstating this idea of South- 
ern claims; and, for fear that you would say so, and think so, I will 
read you a petition to Congress which is now circulating through 
the South, and which has already been largely circulated through 
the South, and has obtained thousands, and tens of thousands, 
and hundreds of thousands of signatures: "We, the Peojile of the 
United States, most respectfully petition your honorable bodies to 
enact a law by which all citizens of every section of the United 
States may be paid for all their property destroyed by the govern- 
ments and armies on both sides during the late war between the 
States, in bonds bearing 3 per cent, interest per annum, maturing 
within the next one hundred years." Every soldier that served 
in the Northern army has been paid; every dollar's worth of prop- 
erty, furnished to the Northern army has been paid for; every 



LAST AND GREATEST SPEECH. 1/ 

widow, and orphan, and wounded soldier, entitled to a pension 
has been pensioned. This means that you shall do for the South 
precisely what you have done for your own soldiers. But I have 
not yet reached the meat in this cocoanut. [Laughter.] "And 
we also petition that all soldiers, or their legal representatives, of 
both armies and every section, be paid, in bonds or public land, 
for their lost time [great laughter], lost limbs, and lost lives, while 
engaged in the late unfortunate civil contest." [Laughter.] That 
all soldiers be paid for their lost time while fighting to overthrow 
your Government ! For their lost limbs, and for their lost lives, 
while fighting to overthrow your Government. Ah! my fellow- 
citizens, they are in sober, serious, downright earnest. They have 
captured both houses of Congress; and, as 1 said awhile ago, the 
only obstacle to the payment of these infamous claims is the Pres- 
idential veto; and there is not a man before me who has not a 
personal, direct interest, in seeing to it that the Rebels do not 
capture the balance of the Government. [Loud applause.] 

These Rebel States are solid. They are solid for repudiating 
your debt. They are solid for paying those Rebel claims. They 
have repudiated their individual debts through the bankruptcy 
law; they have repudiated their State debts, by scafing, and then 
refusing to pay interest on their scales; they have repudiated their 
municipal debt, by repealing the charters of their cities, and towns, 
and villages. Do you think they are more anxious to pay the debt, 
contracted for their subjugation, than they are to pay their own 
honest debt? I tell you — no. They mean repudiation; and they 
don't mean that your debt shall be any more valuable than their 
own. And when you trust them, you will be making a mistake; 
and T don't beheve you will ever do it again. [Great applause 
and cheers.] 

But, my fellow-citizens, we have a matter under consideration 
to-night, more important than all the financial questions that can 
be presented to you; and that is, "Are we, or are we not, a 
Nation?" We had supposed, for generations, that we were a 
Nation. Our fathers met in convention to frame a Constitution, 
and they found some difficulty in agreeing upon the details of 
that Constitution; and, for a ti'jie, it was a matter of supreme 
doubt whether any agreement could be reached. Acrimonious 
debate took place in that convention; but finally, a spirit of com- 
promise prevailed, and the Constitution was adopted by the con- 
vention, and submitted to the People of these United States — 
not to the States, but to the People of the United States — and 
the People of the United States adopted the Constitution that 



l8 SENATOR ZACH. CHANDLERS 

was framed by tlie fathers ; and, for many long years, the whole 
People of the United States believed that they had a Govern- 
ment. The whiskey rebellion broke out in Pennsylvania, and 
was put down by the strong hand of the Government; and we 
believed that we had a Government. We continued in that belief 
until the days of General Jackson, when South Carolina threat- 
ened to raise the standard of revolt. Armed men trod the soil 
of South Carolina, and threatened that, unless the tariff was mod- 
ified to suit their views, they would overthrow the Government. 
This was under the leadership of John C. Calhoun, in carrying 
out his doctrine. Old General Jackson took his pipe out of his 
mouth, when told that South Carolina menaced the (Jovernment 
with armed resistance, and said, "Let South Carolina commit the 
first act of treason against this Government, and, by the Eternal, 
I will hang John C. Calhoun." [Applause.] Every man in. 
America, including Calhoun, knew that he would do it; and the 
first overt act of treason was not committed against the Govern- 
ment. For even the State of South Carolina, under the leader- 
ship of John C. Calhoun, had bowed to the power of this Gov- 
ernment. We remained under that impression until I first took 
my seat in the Senate, on the 4th day of March, 1857. 

Then treason again raised its head on the floors of Congress. 
Treason was threatened on the floors of the Senate and on the 
floors of the House; — and John Wentworth [turning toward him] 
was there to hear it — [Applause.] They said then, "Do this, or 
we will destroy your Government; fail to do that, and we will 
destroy your Ciovernment.'' One of them, in talking to brave 
old Ben Wade, one day, repeated this threat; and the old man 
straightened himself up, and said, "Don't delay it on my account." 
[Loud applause and laughter.] 

Careful preparations were made to carry out this treason. Jeff- 
erson Davis stepped out of the Cabinet of Franklin Pierce, as 
Secretary of War, into the Senate of the United States, and be- 
came Chairman of the Committee on Military Aftairs. Your 
arms were shipped to the Southern States, where they could be 
used to overthrow your Government. Your ammunition followed 
your arms; and, after that, through an innocent-looking clause in a 
general appropriation bill, which read thus, "That the Secretary 
of War may sell such arms as he deems it for the interest of the 
Government to dispose of," your arsenals, all over the United 
States, were opened, and your arms sold for a song, and shipped 
in the very boxes they lay in to the South, to be used in over- 
throwing your (k)vernment. Your navy was scattered wherever 



LAST AND GREATEST SPEECH. 19 

the winds blew, and sufficient water was found to float your ships; 
where they could not be used to defend your Government. Your 
credit, which stood, in 1857, at 122 cents on the dollar for your 
six per cent bonds, was so utterly prostrated, debased, and 
degraded, that, in February, 1861, four years after, your bonds, 
principal and interest, payable in gold coin, were selling for 88 
cents on the dollar, and no buyers for the whole amount. Care- 
ful preparations were made for the overthrow of your Govern- 
ment; and, when Abraham Lincoln [loud applause] took the oath 
of office, as President of these United States, you had no army, 
no navy, no money, no credit, no arms, no ammunition — no 
nothing to protect the National life. 

And yet, with all these discouragements staring us in the face, 
the Republican Party undertook to save your Government. [Tre- 
mendous applause.] We raised your credit, we created navies, 
raised armies, fought battles, and carried on the war to a success- 
ful issue; and finally, when the Rebels surrendered at Appomattox 
[applause], they surrendered to a Government. [Loud applause.] 
They admitted that they had submitted their heresy to the arbitra- 
ment of arms, and had been defeated; and they surrendered to the 
Government of the United States of America. [Applause.] They 
made no claims against this Government, for they had none. In 
the very Ordinance of Secession which they had signed, they pledg- 
ed their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the over- 
throw of this Government; and, when they failed to overthrow this 
Government, they lost all that they had pledged. [Applause and 
laughter.] They asked, as a boon from the Government of the 
United States, that their miserable lives might be spared to them. 
[Applause.] We gave them their lives, told them to take their horses 
and go home, keep their parole of honor, obey the law, and raise 
crops. They had forfeited all of their property; every dollar was 
pledged by their sign-manual. We gave them back their prop- 
erty. We found them naked, and we clothed them. We found 
them without the rights of citizenship, having forfeited those 
rights, and we restored the rights of citizenship. W^e took them 
to our bosoms as brethren, believing that they had repented of 
their sins. We killed for them the fatted calf, and invited them to 
the feast; and they gravely informed us that they had always 
owned that animal, and were not thankfiil for the invitation. 
[Great applause and laughter.] By the laws of war, and by the 
laws of nations, they were bound to pay every dollar of the 
expense of that rebellion. Germany compelled France to pay a 
billion dollars in gold coin for a brief campaign. The revolting 



20 ^KNATOK ZACH. CHANDLER S 

States, 1 say, were bound by the laws and precedents of war, and 
by the laws and usages of nations, to pay- — and with heavy inter- 
est — every last dollar of the debt, contracted for their subjugation. 
[Great applause.] But we forgave them that debt; and, to-day, 
you are being taxed heavily to pay the interest on the debt that 
they ought to have paid. [Applause and cheers, and a voice, 
"Good !''] vSuch magnanimity, as was exhibited by this Nation to 
those Rebels, w^as never witnessed on earth, since God made the 
earth [applause]; and, in my humble judgment, will never be wit- 
nessed again. [Applause.] Mistakes were undoubtedly made, 
errors were committed, and I take my full share for all the mis- 
takes and all the errors, for I was there, and voted upon every 
proposition; but, in my humble judgment, my fellow-citizens, the 
greatest mistake and the greatest error that we committed, was 
in not hanging enough of those Rebels to make treason forever 
odious. [Yells and cheers, which subsided only to break out again 
wdth increased vigor.] We expended $5,000,000,000, and more 
than 300,000 precious lives, to establish the fact that w^e were a 
Nation. [Applause.] 

Now, my fellow-citizens, somebody committed a crime ; either 
those men who rose in rebellion against this Government com- 
mitted the greatest crime, known to human law, or our brave sol- 
diers who fought to save this Government were murderers. One 
of these two propositions you must accept. Is there a man on 
the face of the earth who dares to get up and say that our brave 
soldiers, who bared their bosoms to the bullets of Rebels, w^ere 
anything but good ])atriots, deserving well of their Gountry? 
[Api)lause.] 

And now, after twenty )ears, — ^after an absence from the Senate 
of four years — after twenty years, I go back and take my old 
seat in the Senate [great applause]; and what do I find? I 
might close my eyes, and leave my ears open to the discus- 
sions tiiat are going on daily when that Senate is in session, and 
believe that 1 had taken a Rip Van Winkle sleep of twenty 
years. [Applause and laughter.] The self-same pretensions are 
rung in my ears from day to day. The men have changed — 
the measures not at all. Twenty years ago they said, " Do this, 
or we will shoot your Government to death; fail to do that, or we 
will shoot your Ciovernment to death." And now, after twenty 
years, I go l)ack, and find these paroled Rebels, who have never 
been released from their paroles of honor to obey the law, saying, 
•T)o this, obey our wills, or we will starve your (lovernment to 
death [loud applause]: fail to obey our will, and we will starve 



LAST AND GREATEST SPEECH. 21 

your Government to death." Now, if I am to die, 1 would rather 
be shot to death with musketry than be starved to death. [Ap- 
plause; a voice, "Good!"] 

Now, these Rebels— for they are just as much Rebels now, as 
they were twenty years ago; there is not a particle of difference; 
I know them better than any other living, mortal man [applause 
and laughter] ; I have summered and wintered with them [laugh- 
ter] — these Rebels, to-day, have thirty six members on the iioor of 
the House of Representatives without one single constituent, and 
in violation of law. The thirty-six members represent 4,000,000 of 
people, lately slaves, who are as absolutely disfranchised, as if they 
lived in another sphere. Through shot-guns and whips, tissue- 
ballots and violence, they are as absolutely disfranchised, as if 
they lived, as I said, upon another sphere; and this in violation 
of law, for the law expressly says that where a race, or class, are 
disfranchised, they shall not be represented upon the floor of the 
House of Representatives. [Applause.] Yet there they are; and 
these thirty-six members, thus elected, constitute three times the 
whole of their majority upon that floor. This is not only a viola- 
tion of law, but an outrage upon all the loyal men of these United 
States. [Applause.] It ought not to be; it must not be [ap- 
plause] ; and it shall not be. [Very great applause, and a voice, 
'^ That's so !'"] Twelve members of the Senate — and that is more 
than their whole majority — occupy their seats upon that floor by 
fraud and violence; and I am saying no more to you people of 
Chicago than I have said to those Rebel G nerals there on the 
floor of Congress. [Great applause and whistling; a voice, "Bully 
for you!''] With majorities, thus obtained by fraud and violence, 
in both houses — both the Senate and the House — they dare to 
dictate terms to the loyal men of these United States. [Ap- 
plause.] With majorities, thus obtained, they dare to arraign the 
loyal men of these United States, and say they want honest elec- 
tions. [Laughter.] They are mortally afraid of bayonets at the 
polls. We offered them a law, forbidding any man to go within 
two miles of the polHng-places with arms of any description; and 
they promptly voted it down, for they wanted their ku-klux there. 
[Applause.] They were afraid, not of ku-klux at the polls, but of 
soldiers at the polls. Now, in all of the States north of Mason 
and Dixon's Line and east of the Rocky Mountains, there is less 
than one soldier to a county [laughter]; there is about two-thirds 
of a soldier to a county, and, of course, about two-thirds of a 
musket. [Applause.] Now, wouldn't this great County of Cook 
tremble, if it saw two -thirds of a soldier parading himself up 



22 SENATOR ZACH. CHANDLER S 

and down in front of the City of Chicago. [Laughter and ap- 
plause.] But they are afraid to have inspectors. What are they 
afraid to have inspectors for? The law, creating those inspectors, 
is imperative that one must be a Republican, and the other a 
Democrat. They have no power, whatever, except to certify that 
the election has been honest and fair; and yet they are afraid of 
those inspectors; and then they are afraid of marshals at the 
polls. Now^ while the inspectors cannot arrest, the marshals, 
under the orders of the court, can arrest criminals ;. therefore, they 
said, "We will have no marshals." When we told them we could 
not have courts without marshals, they said, "We don't want mar- 
shals at all.'' And they don't. Marshals interfere with their 
moonshiners, the men who distill illicit whiskey in the mountains 
of North CaroHna and Georgia. And they don't want any courts, 
because the courts interfere with the ku-klux at the polls. It is a 
false assumption on their part. What they want is not free elec- 
tions, but free frauds at elections. [Applause.] They have got 
a solid South by fraud and violence. Give them permission to 
exercise the same fraud and violence in New York and Cincin- 
nati; and those two cities, with the solid South, will give them the 
Presidency of the United States ; and, once obtained by fraud and 
violence, by fraud and violence they would hold it for a generation. 
To-day, 8,000,000 in those Rebel States as absolutely control 
all the legislation in this Government — as absolutely, I say — as 
they control their slaves. Through caucus dictations there, I find 
precisely what I did twenty years ago, when a Democratic caucus, 
composed of 28 Southern Democrats and 16 Northern Demo- 
crats, decreed that Stephen A. Douglas should be degraded and 
displaced from the Committee on Territories; and there were 
just two Northern Democratic Senators who dared even to enter 
a protest against the outrage. To-day, there are 32 South- 
ern Democratic Senators to 12 Northern Senators, and out of 
the whole 12 there is not a man who dares to protest against any- 
thing. [Applause and laughter.] I say that, through this cau- 
cus dictation, those eight millions of Southern Rebels as absolutely 
control the legislation of this Nation— as absolutely, I say — as they 
controlled their slaves when slavery existed. [Applause.] Now, 
if every man here should hold up his right hand, and swear that a 
Rebel soldier was better than a Union soldier, I would not believe 
it [applause]; and I would hold up both of my hands, and swear 
that I did not believe it. [Laughter and cheers.] Yet, to-day, in 
South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and several other 
Southern States, the vote of a Rebel soldier counts as much as 



LAST AND GREATEST SPEECH. 23 

the votes of two of the brave soldiers of Illinois; for the former 
votes for a negro as well as himself, and so his vote weighs just 
double the weight of that of the brave soldier in Illinois. [Ap- 
plause.] This is an outrage upon freedom, an outrage upon the 
gallant and noble soldiers of Illinois and Michigan. [Applause.] 

I have shown you that, when the Republican Party assumed 
the reins of power, you had no money, no credit, no armies, no 
ammunition, no navy, no materials of war. When the Republi- 
can Party took the reins of power in its hands, there was no 
nation on the face of God's earth poor enough to do you rever- 
ence. You were the derision of the nations of the earth. You 
had but one ally and friend on earth, and that was little Switzer- 
land. Russia sent her fleet to winter here for her own protec- 
tion ; and there was not a nation on God's earth but hoped you 
might be overthrown. We fought that battle through ; we raised 
the National dignity; we raised the National army; we raised the 
National power; we raised the National strength, till now, to-day, 
after eighteen years of Republican rule, there is no nation on 
earth strong enough not to do you reverence. [Applause.] We 
took your National credit, when it was so low that your bond was 
sold at 88 cents on the dollar, bearing six per cent, interest — and 
with no market at that— and we lifted your credit up, up, up, till 
your 4 per cent, bonds are selling at a premium in every market 
of the earth to day. [Applause.] Your credit stands higher than 
the credit of any other nation on the face of God's earth. [Ap- 
plause.] We saved the National life, and we saved the National 
honor. 

Yet, notwithstanding all this, there are parties who say that the 
mission of the Republican Party is ended, and that it ought to die. 
If there was ever a political organization that existed on the face 
of God's earth, which, so far as the future state of rewards and 
punishments is concerned, is prepared to die, it is that old Repub- 
lican Party. [Laughter and applause, loud and prolonged.] But 
we aren't a-going to do it [great applause]; we have made other 
arrangements. [Laughter and applause.] 

The Republican Party is the only party that ever existed, so far 
as I have been able to ascertain— so far as any history or record 
can be found, either in Sacred or Profane History — it is the only 
party that has ever existed on earth which has not one single, sol- 
itary, unfulfilled pledge left— not one. [Applause.] I defy— and 
I will sit down here and wait for any enemy — the worst enemy 
that the Republican Party ever had— to name one single pledge 
that it ever gave to the People that created it, which is not to-day 



24 



SENATOR ZACH. CHANDLER S 



a fulfilled and an established fact. The Republican Party was 
created with one idea, and that was to preserve our vast Territories 
from the blighting curse of slavery. We gave that pledge at our 
birth, that we would save those Territories from the withering 
grasp of slavery; and we saved them. [Great applause, and a 
voice, "Yes, we did, Zach !"] It is our work; we did it. [Ap- 
plause.] But we did more than that. We not only saved your 
vast Territories from the threatened scourge, the woe and palsy of 
human slavery, but we swept the accursed thing from the Conti- 
nent of North America. [Great applause.] We pledged ourselves 
to save your National life; and we saved that National life. We 
pledged ourselves to save your National honor; and we saved 
that National honor. We pledged ourselves to give you a Home- 
stead Law; and we gave you a Homestead Law. We pledged our- 
selves to improve your rivers and harbors, and we improved your 
rivers and harbors. We pledged ourselves to build you a Pacific 
Railroad, and we built you a Pacific Railroad. We pledged our- 
selves to give you a College Land Bill, and we gave you a College 
Land Bill. And, not to weary you, the last pledge we gave, and 
the last pledge we fulfilled, was, that the very moment we were 
able, we would redeem the obligations of this great (Government in 
the coin of the world; and on the ist day of January, 1879, '^ve 
fulfilled the last pledge ever given. [Applause and shouts.] 
Notwithstanding all this, they say your mission is ended, and that 
you ought to die. Well, my fellow-citizens, if we should die 
to-day, or to-morrow, our children's children, to the twentieth 
generation, would boast that their ancestors belonged to that 
glorious old Republican Party that saved the Nation, and tore 
the accursed thing, slavery, from the escutcheon of this Govern- 
ment [great apj)lause]; and they would have the right to boast 
throuo;h all the generations. 

Senator Ben Hill, of Georgia, said, in my presence, that he was 
an ambassador from the Sovereign State of Georgia to the Senate 
of the United States. [Laughter]. Suppose Ben Hill should be 
caught in Africa, or India, or some of those Eastern nations, and 
should get into a little difficulty ; do you think he would raise the 
great flag of Georgia over his head [laughter] and say, "That will 
protect me?" [Applause and laughter.] 

My fellow-citizens, you may ta e the biggest ship that sails 
the ocean, i)ut on board of her the flags of all the States that 
were lately in arms against this Government; raise to her peak 
the stars and bars of the Rebellion; start her with all her bunt- 
ing to the breeze, sail her around the world, and— you would 



LAST AND GREATEST SPEECH. 2$ 

not get a salute of one pop-gun from any fort on earth. [Loud 
and long laughter and applause.] *But, take the smallest ship 
that sails the ocean, mark her "U. S. A."— United States of 
America— raise to her mast-head the stars and stripes, and sail 
her around the world, and there is not a fort, or a ship of war, ot 
any nation on God's footstool, that would not receive her with a 
national salute. [Shouts and cries of "Bravo!"] 

And yet the RepubUcan Party has done all this, ^ye took your 
Government when it was despised among the nations, and we 
have raised it to this high point of honor — and still they insist we 
ought to die. [Laughter.] What would you think of a manufac- 
turing house here in Chicago that failed about the year 1857, but^ 
which you citizens of Chicago should deem it very important to 
resurrect and reorganize, in order that it might resume business? 
So you would buy the property for fifty cents on the dollar, and 
reorganize it under your general laws, elect officers, look about 
for a competent man to manage it, and, finally, you find what you 
believe to be the very man for that business, and put him into 
possession. He finds that the machinery is not up with the 
progress of the age, and he goes and buys new machinery. He 
brings order out of confusion; he manages the business so that 
the stock of the concern rises to par, and way above it ; dividends 
are paid semi-annually, and they grow larger and larger; the stock 
rises to two hundred, and none for sale. After eighteen years of 
this grandly successful management, the manager comes in with 
his account current, and his check for the half-yearly dividends, 
and lays them before the president and directors. The president 
has had a litde conversation with these colleagues on the board, 
and says, "This statement is very satisfactory, but we have con- 
cluded that, after the ist day of July next, we shall not require 
your services any longer." "Why," says the manager, "what 
have I done?" "Nothing that is not praisew^orthy," is the reply. 
"We will give yoil a certificate that we think you have managed 
this establishment with great ability and signal success. We will 
certify that we think you have no equal in the City of Chicago, or 
the State of Illinois. Everything that you have done is praise- 
worthy, and we give you full credit for it. But, eighteen years 
ago, one of our employes was caught stealing, and sent to the 
penitentiary ; he has never served his term out, true ; but we pro- 
pose to call him back, and put him in your place. [Great cheering 
and laughter.] Wouldn't you say that the president and all of 
the directors should be put into a lunatic asylum on suspicion at 
once? [Applause and laughter.] 



26 SENATOR ZACH. CHANDLER'S 

So I tell you, fellow-citizens, that the mission of the Republi- 
can party is not ended [applause]; furthermore, that it has but 
just begun [applause]; and, what is further still, that it never will 
end, 'til you and I can start from the Canadian Dominion, and 
travel to the Gulf of Mexico, make Black Republican speeches 
wherever we please [applause], vote Black Republican tickets 
wherever we gain a residence, and do it with exactly the same 
safety that a Rebel can travel through the North, stop wherever 
he has a mind to, and run for judge in any city he has a mind to. 

[This allusion to the local Democratic candidate for Superior 
Court Judge, who had served in the Rebel army, produced the 
wildest kind of enthusiastic excitement, which continued for sev- 
eral minutes, and culminated, as described in the introduction. 
After the applause and cheering had subsided, Senator Chandler 
continued.] 

Well, fellow-citizens, I hope after you have elected him judge, 
he wont bring in a bill for loss of time. [Laughter and applause.] 

You are going to hold an election next Tuesday, the influence 
of which will reach far beyond the borders of Chicago. The eyes 
of the whole Nation are upon you. By your verdict of next 
Tuesday, you are to send forth greeting to the People of the 
United States, saying, either, that you are in favor of honest men, 
honest money, patriotism, and a National Government [applause], 
or that you are in favor of soft money, repudiation, and Rebel 
rule. [Applause.] 

It is a good symptom, Mr. Chairman, to see 600 young men 
like you in line prepared to carry the flag of the Republican party 
forward to victory. [Cheers.] It is a good symptom to see 600 
young men, like my friend the chairman here, in the front ranks 
ready to fight the battles of their Country now, and vote as they 
shot during the war. [Applause.] And now I want every single 
man in this vast audience to consider himself a committee of one, 
to work from now until the polls close on Tuesday next. Go to 
the polls early, and stay late; and let every mother's son of you 
[laughter] decide that you will take one man besides yourself to 
the polls who would not otherwise go. [Applause.] Find a man 
who might stay away, and see to it that he and yourself vote the 
Republican ticket; and, if you cannot find just such a man, tr}' 
to convert some sinner from the error of his way. [Great laugh- 
ter.] You have got too much at stake to risk it at this election. 
The times are too good; iron brings too much; lumber is too 
high; your business in every branch is too prosperous; your 
manufactories are making too much money for you to afford to 



LAST AND GREATEST SPEECH. 2/ 

turn this great (lovernment over to the hands of repudiating 
Rebels — you cannot do it. [Applause.] Shut up your stores 
[a voice, "That 's it, good!"]; shut up your manufactories, and go 
to work for your Country; and spend two days; and then on the 
night of the election, Mr. Chairman, send me a despatch, if you 
please, that Chicago has gon^ overwhelmingly Republican. [Ap- 
plause long continued.] 

And thus closed the most wonderful speech of Senator Chand- 
ler's life. 



BRIEF SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 

SENATOR ZACHARIAH CHANDLER. 



The late Hon. Zachariah Chandler was born at Bedford, 
N. H., December lo, 1813, and was about sixty-six years old at 
the time of his death. 

He was descended from a highly respectable and distinguished 
family, but he himself received only a common school education. 

He removed to Detroit in 1833, and engaged in the dry goods 
business, in which he amassed a large fortune. His natural 
ability, great determination, and undoubted honesty caused him 
to command the respect of all with whom he came in contact: 
and it was not long before he became exceedingly prominent in 
Michigan poUtics. In 185 1, he was elected Mayor of Detroit; 
in 1852, he was the Whig candidate for Governor of Michigan; 
and, in 1857, he was selected to represent the Republican Party in 
the Senate of the United States. 

The time was well chosen. Never had our Country been more 
in need of a stalwart character. And, from that very day, slavery 
was doomed. In company with old Senator Ben Wade, he imme- 
diately took the initiative, and never loosened his grasp till the 
day of his death. 

In the subsequent conduct of the war, he rendered his Country 
inestimable services, and was ever recognized as a counselor and 
leader, and an adviser of the Administration. 

In 1863, and again in 1869, he was re-elected to the Senate, 
and thus served the long period of eighteen years uninterruptedly. 

In 1875, through a coalition of Democrats and disafifected 
Republicans, he lost his seat, by a majority of only one vote; 



30 SKETCH OF SENATOR CHANDLER. 

but was soon after appointed Secretary of the Interior by Presi- 
dent Grant. Here his executive abiHty had full scope, and he 
subjected his department to the most practical and effective 
administrative reform yet seen in Washington. 

He it was who, on the night of the memorable election of 
1876, while Chairman of the National Republican Committee, 
alone of his party, was confident of success, and telegraphed, 
prophetically, "Hayes has 185 votes, and is elected." 

Senator Chandler was re-elected to the Senate in 1878; and, 
until the day of his death, his movements were characterized with 
the same ability and business dispatch^ and he was the foremost of 
the Republican leaders in endeavoring to check Southern aggres- 
sion. 

Fearless in his utterances, he was ever a formidable adversary. 
But even his enemies concede that he was scrupulously honest, 
thoroughly sincere, and ever loyal to what he deemed to be the 
best interests of his party and his Country. 

His death was as unexpected as his loss is irreparable. With 
every indication of health on the evening previous, no one 
dreamed that he was so near his end. His death is supposed to 
have been caused through open-air exposure while campaigning 
in Wisconsin, and over-exertion during his last speech. 

Every mark of respect was here paid to the deceased; and all 
united in mourning the loss of so distinguished and deserving a 
statesman. On the morning of November 2d, his remains were 
accompanied by a large procession, including our Club, from the 
Grand Pacific Hotel to the depot, and were then further escorted 
to Detroit, where his funeral obsequies were solemnized, on the 
5th of November, 1879. 



THE YOUNG MEN'S AUXILIARY CLUB. 



Officers for 1879-80. 

PRESIDENT, 

SAMUEL COLLYER. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS, 

C. B. CURTIS, J5th Ward. F. C. DELANG, 17th Ward. 

H. T. ROGERS, j6th Ward. O. SAMPSON, i8th Ward. 

TREASURER, 

WALTER C. EARNED. 

SECRETARY, 

CHARLES ARND. 



The Young Men's Auxiliary Club was organized in the month 
of September, 1878, and its establishment and subsequent pros- 
perity were largely due to the exertions of Mr. Edward F. Cragin. 
of this City, who was elected its first President. 

The object, membership requirements and organization of our 
Club are embodied in our Constitution, which reads as follows: 

This Club shall be known as the Young Men's Auxiliary Club 
of North-Chicago. 

Its object is: — 

1. To interest young men in the government of our City and 
County, especially those who have heretofore not been interested. 

2. To acquaint them with the wrongs and abuses that have 
been, and are, perpetrated by City and County Officials, and 
explain how the young men can assist in correcting these evils. 

3. To keep them well posted regarding the different candi- 
dates. 



32 THE YOUNG MEN'S AUXILIARY CLUB. 

Any young man of good character, between the ages of 21 and 
35, can become a member, except those holding office, or clerk- 
ships, under the City or County governments, and those who are 
known as professional politicians. 

A member's name will be dropped from the roll by a two-thirds' 
vote, at any regular meeting. 

The work of the Club will be, as far as possible, with the 
Republican Party. 

The officers shall hold office one year, or until their successors 
are elected, and shall consist of a President, a Vice-President 
from each North-Side Ward, a general Secretary, and a Treasurer. 

For each twenty-five members there shall also be elected an 
Assistant -Secretary, whose duty it will be to keep the 24 mem- 
bers, assigned to him, posted in matters of interest and import- 
ance, pertaining to the Club. 

These Secretaries, with the above-mentioned officers, shall con- 
stitute an Executive Committee, who shall have general charge of 
the affairs of the Club. 

This Constitution can be changed at any regular meeting ot 
the Club by a two-thirds' vote of the members present. 

Since the adoption of the above Constitution, our Club has 
begun to take a more active participation in State and National 
politics. One of our present aims is to organize great Republican 
mass meetings, and introduce to the public the ablest speakers of 
our land. In local politics, our Club deals unsparingly with cor- 
ruption, and endeavors, to the utmost degree, to force the nomi- 
nation of good men. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




